 Lavaud sailed on the corvette "Aube" on 19 February 1840; the "Comte de Paris", commanded by Langlois, and with the French immigrants on board, made a false start on 6 March and after going aground, finally got away on 20 March.Because of the late departure of the ships, the French expedition was doomed to failure from the outset.The reason why the "Aube" sailed ahead of the "Comte de Paris" was to "gain time for fear the British might get the start of them".